Follower assembly for card tray



De@ 20, 1960 w. R. HuGGlNs ET AL 2,965,104

FOLLOWR ASSEMBLY FOR CARD TRAY Filed April 25, 1957 lll" I liid ANIM INVENTORJ" Willard Robb Huggins l/ 'I 22 22 24 2| I3 477%? l BY Philip AndrewTemple www FOLLOWER ASSEMBLY FOR CARD TRAY Willard Robb Huggins and Philip Andrew Temple, Muscatine, Iowa, assignors to The Home-O-Nize Co., Muscatine, Iowa Filed Apr. 25, 1957, Sel'. No. 655,139

3 Claims. (Cl. 129-31) This invention is a follower assembly for card cabinets and le cabinets herein shown and described as applied to a single-drawer cabinet.

The objects of this invention are to provide a follower assembly usable in either a card or le cabinet to overcome recognized disadvantages in this art, such as preventing file folders or cards from leaning forward and imparing visibility until the folders or cards are manually pushed back; also to prevent folders or cards from curling and sliding under other folders or cards when the folders or cards are loose enough in the drawer to be examined, removed from or inserted in the drawer; to provide a follower assembly which positively holds the folders or cards contiguous, with resultant maximum drawer capacity, when the plate of the assembly is in a vertical position, yet allowing the folders or cards to be easily examined and removed from the drawer, without retracting the movable unit comprising a part of the assembly, when the plate is in an angle-back position;

and to provide a follower assembly, the movable unit of which includes an articulate support plate which operates independently of the rest of the unit, for positioning in two extremes, vertical and so-called angle-back and capable of being sustained, by the hand, in an intermediate position when expeditious movement of the unit entity is desired.

Followers for le cabinets and card cases have been well known in this art for more than a half a century, as exemplified by the following patents:

504,782, Hine, Sept. 12, 1893 564,404, Andrews, July 21, 1896 733,547, Gottwals, July 14, 1903 964,117, Mott, July 12, 1910 However, in actual commercial use, leaning forward and curling of file folders, and to a lesser degree, cards, is still a problem with followers for cabinets and cases presently available to the public, which problems have been solved, after extensive experiments, by the device of the present invention.

Other objects of the invention will be manifest from the following description of the present preferred form of the invention, taken in connection with the accompanying drawing, wherein:

Fig. 1 is a side elevational view of a cabinet drawer, partly in section and partly broken away, illustrating the application of the follower assembly of this invention, showing the unit entity in a vertical position;

Fig. 2 is a similar view showing the unit entity in an angle-back position;

Fig. 3 is a detail fragmentary sectional view of the follower assembly taken on the line 3--3 of Fig. 1, looking in the direction of the arrows; and

Fig. 4 is a detail fragmentary rear elevational view of the assembly.

In order to illustrate the application of this invention, the drawings show a conventional drawer of a -le cabinet or case. The follower assembly of this invention atjetit 2,965,104 Patented Dec. 2.0, 1960 ice includes a track 11 and a movable unit entity, generally designated 12.

The movable unit entity 12 includes a shoe 13 which is slidably mounted in the track 11, the opposite edges 11' of the fore part of the shoe underlying flanges 11" on the top of the track, the aft end of the shoe being reduced and the sides thereof bent upwardly to provide parallel supports 14, for a purpose hereinafter set forth.

The unit entity also embodies a plate-support housing consisting of channel members 15 and 16. The member 15 is secured to the back wall of a follower plate 17 which is also part of the unit entity. The upper terminal of the member 15 is provided with a neck portion 18 in spaced relation to the back wall of the follower plate, which neck portion is joined by a horizontal connector or shoulder 18 to a right-angle lip 19 engageable with an abutment 20 formed on the rear wall of the follower plate 17. The channel members 15 and 16 are pivotally mounted on the supports 14 through the medium of pintles 21 and 21' as advantageously illustrated in Figs. 2 and 3. The lower terminal of each member 15 and 16, below the pintles 21 and 21', is formed to provide cams 22 and 22 respectively, which intermittently act as brakes upon selective application of downward pressure thereon in a manner to be more fully hereinafter set out. When the follower plate 17 is in a vertical position, as shown in Fig. 1, cams 22 are in braking engagement with the upper face of the track.

When the follower plate 17 is in an angle-back posiv tion, as shown in Fig. 2, the cams 22 are in frictional engagement with the track. The follower plate 17 is actuated into an angle-back position under the influence of a spring 23, acting through interengaged channel members 15 and 16, which spring urges the channel members apart. Spring 23 is convoluted at 24 on front pintle 21, the terminals of which spring are engaged with channel member 16 at a point remote from the lower end thereof. An intermediate section of spring 23 is bent into engagement with shoe 13, as shown to advantage in Figs. l and 3. The upper terminal of the channel member 16 is provided with an opening 25 through which the neck 18 and lip 19l extend. The inner upper end of the member 16 provides a yoke 26 which abuts connector or shoulder 18 to lock the follower plate 17 in vertical position as shown in Fig. 1. Movement of the member 15 to a vertical position against the tension of spring 23 causes cams 22 to move into braking engagement with track 11 and hold the follower assembly against longitudinal movement within the drawer. When it is desired to retract follower plate 17 into an angleback position, pressure is exerted in the direction of the follower plate 17 on the upper end of member 16, back of yoke 26, which disengages the yoke 26 from neck 18 and connector 18' and permits the spring 23 to exert its force against channel member 16 in a rearward direction, by reason of the fact that the yoke 26 is disengaged from the neck 18, the member 16 sliding upwardly on the plate until said yoke is immediately under the lip 19 as shown in Fig. 2. When in this position, the follower plate 17 is in a complete angle-back position and cams 22' are in braking engagement with track 11, under tension exerted by spring 23.

When it is desired to move the unit entity of the follower assembly, pressure may be exerted on the top of the follower plate 17 until it is in a position intermediate the vertical position shown in Fig. 1 and the angle-back position shown in Fig. 2, permitting free movement of the unit entity on the track 11. The lip 19 at all times, remains in engagement with the abutment 20.

In actual use of this device, we have found that the ile folders or cards are held tightly together in a vertical position when the follower plate 17 is in a vertical or substantially vertical position as shown in Fig. 1. When it is desired to examine a tile or les in the drawer of the cabinet, the plate 17 is moved independently of anyv movement ofV the shoe 1'3 and its associate. mechanism.' When in the angle-back position, the tiles or cards may be freely and easily examined and a iile or filesr re.

moved or inserted at the option of the user. If a number of files are withdrawn the unit entity is moved into the intermediate position referred to supra, so as to urge the plate 17 into snug engagement with the aft file in the drawer, and continued pressure then exerted on the top of the plate 17 until it re-assumesthe vertical position shown in Fig. 1.

While a preferredv embodiment of the invention has been shown and described, it is nevertheless to be understood that various changes may be made therein, without departing from the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

What we claim is:

l. A follower assembly for` a le drawer, the assembly comprising a track adapted for positioning longitudinally inthe bottom of the drawer, and a mobile unit embodying a shoe slidable on said track, a support member pivotally mounted on said shoe, a follower plate fixed to said supportmember, a second support member pivotally mounted on said shoe adjacent said first support member, the upper terminals of said support members having interlocking elements, an intermediate shoulder on one of said interlocking elements, said interlocking elements being slidably engaged, means on said shoe urging said second support member in a direction away from said first support: member, said'support members and follower plate being movable together in an arc longitudinally of the drawer aboutA the respective pivotal connections of the support members. to the shoe, to selectively arrange the follower plate in vertical or angle-back position, the lower terminals ofy said support members being extended to provide track-engaging members, the other of said interlocking elements on the upper terminals of said support members engaging said shoulder when the follower plate is in vertical position, with the track-engaging members of said irst support member in braking engagement with the track, said second support member being moved towards said first support member against the action of said means urging the second support member, to disengage said4 other interlocking element from said comprising a track adapted for positioning longitudinally' in the bottom of the drawer and a mobile unit embodying a shoe slidable on said track, a support. member pivotally mounted onsaid shoe, a follower plate fixed to said support member, a second support member pivot ally mounted on said shoe adjacent said rst support member, the upper terminal of said rst support member being provided with a narrow portion having an intermediate connector, the upper terminal of said second support member being'formed to provide a yoke slidably interengaged with said narrow portion of said rst support member, spring means on said shoe urging said second support member in a direction away from said first support member, said support members and connected follower plate beingV movable together in an arc longitudinally of the drawer about the pivotal connections of the support members to the shoe, to selectively arrange the follower plate in vertical or angle-back position, the lower terminals of said support members being extended to form cams, said yoke engaging said intermediate connector when the follower plate is in vertical position with the cams of said first support member in braking engagement with the track, said second support member being moved towards said first support mem ber against the action of said spring means to disengage said yoke from said intermediate connector, the follower plate then being urged by the spring means to the angle back position with the cams of said second support' member urged into braking engagement with said track.

References Cited in the ile of this' patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 564,404 Andrews July 21, 1896 808,225 Woodruff Dec. 26', 1905 1,899,530 Schade Feb. 28, 1933 FOREIGN PATENTS 287,229 Switzerland Mar. 16, 1953 

